Established in 1996, James Yarosh Associates Fine Art Gallery
is located in the second floor loft space of the former 1917 firehouse
at 45 E. Main Street (Rt.520) in Historic Holmdel Village, NJ 07733
Entrance on the inside corner of building & additional parking lots in the rear.

Open Saturday 12-4pm. Weekday & evenings hours scheduled by appointment
732 993 5278 or 732 993 5ART

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'SATURATION' ARTIST STATEMENT

“All artwork is about beauty; all positive work represents it and celebrates it. All negative art protests the lack of beauty in our lives” (Agnes Martin- 1989)

In troubling times it is necessary to turn inward in search of solace, clarity and strength. This search can lead to a heightened appreciation and enlightened joy in the careful observation of every day objects that surrounds all of us. This group of work expands upon the still life tradition and defines it in contemporary terms while also addressing the classic problem of whether beauty is in the eye (mind) of the beholder or whether it resided in the object itself. The idea that “the impulse of modern art is the desire to destroy beauty” (Barnett Newman- 1949) and the belief in the myth that beauty is unimportant are not relevant to my aesthetic approach. I often respond to the beauty of a painting before thinking about its truth or value because beauty does not need to explain itself.

These monochromatic still life portraits are close up studies of objects grouped by color and painted on canvas proportioned to the human scale. The paintings where first completely finished in a traditional representational manner and then the surface layered with glaze creating a saturated effect by the dominant color. Using the self imposed confines of the still life, I created formal images that possess a handmade quality. With careful observation of subject matter and meticulous detailed painting that both calls attention to the surface while also maintaining the illusion of the perspective space. Familiar objects as disparate as a gas can, a Clorox bottle, a fine porcelain are juxtaposed to question the cultural and aesthetic hierarchies placed on everyday objects. The fact that all the compositions are viewed from a downward angle and the use of dominant single color for each work creates a coherence amoung the pieces in the exhibit.

Joyce Anastasia Urbanski for James Yarosh Associates Fine Art Gallery